How to Get Your Fireplace Ready for Winter

A pre-season timeline

Winter prep is easier spread over a few months than crammed into the week the temperature drops. This is a sensible order for a home in the Northeast.

• Spring or early summer: buy or split next winter's firewood; it needs months of drying
• August to September: chimney inspection and any sweep; time to schedule repairs before heating season
• September: repairs to crown, cap, damper or liner; mild weather suits masonry and roof work
• October: inside checks, supplies, alarms; everything ready for the first cold night
• First cold night: small first fire, watched; confirms the chimney draws before regular use

Book the inspection before the rush

NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents, calls for a yearly inspection and cleaning when deposits build up. The U.S. Fire Administration's heating safety guidance says the same in plainer terms: have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected each year by a professional. Most people remember in late October, which is exactly when schedules fill and the first cold snap arrives.

Booking in August or September gives you a cool chimney to work on and room to repair a cracked crown, a rusted damper or a failed liner before you need them. If a boiler or water heater shares the chimney, mention it when you book. That flue works all winter and deserves the same look as the fireplace.

Checks from inside the house

Most preparation needs no ladder at all. With the fireplace cold and a flashlight in hand, make sure the damper opens fully and closes snugly, and that its handle or chain works without forcing. Look at the firebrick for cracks wide enough to slip a coin into and for joints where mortar has fallen out. Sweep out last season's ash, leaving a thin layer on the floor of the firebox if you like.

Check the glass doors and screen. Doors should open and close smoothly and latch; a screen should sit flat across the opening with no gaps at the sides. Look at the hearth extension for cracks or loose tiles, since embers that fall on it need a solid, noncombustible surface.

A look at the chimney from outside

Stand back in the yard or across the street and look up at the chimney. You are looking for a cap over every flue, a crown without obvious missing pieces, brick courses that run straight, and mortar joints that are still full. White staining, dark streaks below the cap, missing mortar near the top and any lean are worth pointing out to the inspector. Look at the flashing too, where the chimney passes through the roof: rust, gaps or thick tar suggest it has been leaking.

Stay off the roof, especially once fallen leaves and early frost make it slick. Photographs from the ground, taken with a phone's zoom, are useful to share with whoever does the inspection.

Get the firewood sorted early

Wood bought in October is often wood that was cut in September. It hisses, smokes and lines the flue with creosote. The U.S. EPA's firewood storage guidance recommends splitting wood before stacking it, keeping it off the ground, covering the top with a roof that overhangs, and seasoning softwoods for at least six months and hardwoods for at least twelve.

Stack the main supply away from the walls of the house, so it does not bring insects indoors or put fuel against the siding, and bring in only a day or two's worth at a time. Check a few pieces from any delivery: split one and look at the fresh face. If it feels damp or smells of sap, restack it and burn something else first.

Supplies to have on hand

A few tools make the season safer and easier. Keep them near the fireplace, not in the basement.

• A metal ash bucket with a tight metal lid, and a metal shovel
• A fire extinguisher suitable for home use, where you can reach it
• Dry kindling and newspaper or natural fire starters
• A poker and a sturdy fireplace screen
• Fresh batteries or replacement units for smoke and CO alarms

Clearances around the hearth

The Fire Administration advises keeping anything that can burn at least three feet from heat sources, including fireplaces and wood stoves. Winter brings its own fire load into living rooms: holiday decorations on the mantel, a stack of kindling beside the hearth, a rug pulled closer for the season, stockings hung right over the opening. Set the room up with that distance in mind before the first fire, not after it.

If you plan to add a stove or insert this winter, that is a separate job with its own clearances, liner and, in many towns, a permit. Plan it well ahead of the cold.

Why winter is hard on chimneys

Cold winters with freeze-thaw cycles are hard on masonry. Water that soaked into the crown or mortar over the summer freezes, expands and widens every crack. Nor'easters drive rain sideways into joints that stay dry the rest of the year. A chimney that was a little worn in September can be dropping brick by March. That is the practical reason to have it looked at before the season: once roofs are icy, repairs are harder to schedule and some masonry work has to wait for warmer weather.

The fireplace is often not the only thing using the chimney. A gas or oil boiler and a water heater often vent into a flue beside it. Make sure that flue is part of the fall inspection, that its cleanout door is closed, and that CO alarms are working on each level. If the inspection finds a problem, you get a free written estimate that explains the repair before any work starts.

If you will not use the fireplace this winter

Skipping fires for a season still calls for a little preparation. Close the damper snugly to keep heated air from escaping, and if the damper is old and leaky, a fitted draft stopper or a top-sealing damper cuts the loss further. Anything placed in the throat to block drafts should carry a clear reminder so nobody lights a fire under it. Make sure every flue has a cap; an unused, uncapped chimney is where birds and squirrels settle in for the winter.

Remember that a cold chimney still sits in the weather. Freeze-thaw and wind-driven rain keep working on the crown and brick whether or not a fire is lit, so the yearly inspection still applies, especially if another appliance vents into the same chimney.